Malta heads to Venice Biennale with solo show by Matthew Attard

Maltese artist Matthew Attard will represent Malta at the prestigious 60th Venice Biennale with his solo show I will follow the ship, an AI-driven artwork.

The solo show consists of a new art commission weaving together cultural heritage and cutting-edge AI-driven technology, co-curated by Italian American curator Sara Dolfi Agostini and Maltese curator Elyse Tonna. Maria Galea and Galleria Michela Rizzo shall oversee the Project Management.

Artist Matthew Attard said the project explores ideas of human existence and survival at the point of convergence between history and future, physical experience, and digital input. It originates from his latest explorations into AI and drawing technology, fused with his interest for historical images of ex-voto ship graffiti, vernacular iconographies which speak of ancient local tales of faith and salvation across the Mediterranean.

“Located on the facades of several wayside chapels on the islands, these ephemeral etchings in stone were possibly crafted by seafarers because of the religious significance and political immunity these buildings offered.  The meanings and values of these anonymous ship drawings reverberate in our present times, where computer technology and the internet have propelled mass artistic emancipation and overturned traditional local centres of power,” Attard said.

This point of departure for Attard’s project is billed to offer spectators a digital interaction together with collective speculative thinking about the future. The ship graffiti, unique to Malta, resonate with many cultures whose relationship with the sea has been - and still is - crucial, as evidenced by Venice’s own such inscriptions. “At a time of climate change, rising sea levels, and questions of people’s place in a hyper technological world, these humble marks of hope, root metaphors deeply embedded in human consciousness, drift in the middle of the Pavilion to reveal what hides behind screens and beliefs,” Attard said.

Mary Ann Cauchi, Arts Council director for funding and strategy, said Malta’s participation at the Biennale strengthens Maltese arts and culture internationally while actively promoting the creative and cultural sector. “Matthew Attard's exhibition brings Maltese cultural heritage together with the technology of artificial intelligence. It’s an honour for Arts Council Malta to be the commissioner, and give its full support to such an important event in the world of arts and culture, and the Council shall strive to continue to put Malta, and its artists, on the international map.”

Speaking at the launch, arts minister Owen Bonnici said this will be the first time that the national pavilion will be entrusted to a solo Maltese artist. “Matthew Attard’s project explores ideas of human existence and survival at the point of convergence between history and the future, the physical experience and the digital input.”

The Evaluation Board members were Perit Adrian Mamo, artistic director at the Manoel Theatre, Dr Katya Micallef, curator at MUZA, and Daniel Azzopardi, artistic director at Spazju Kreattiv. The evaluation was chaired by Mary Ann Cauchi.